José Berríos struggled to rein in his command early in 2020 after moving to the third-base side of the pitching rubber. Just wait, the Twins said. Josh Donaldson and Miguel Sanó scuffled for a while, and Donaldson was on the injured list for a month. Just wait, the ballclub said.

Here's what they were waiting for.

The box score won't necessarily show it, but Berríos was in ace form for most of the first half of Tuesday's seven-inning doubleheader against the Cardinals, while Donaldson and Sanó left any memory of their slow starts behind with big homers. Even the Cards, a playoff-caliber team, couldn't withstand Berríos and the sluggers at their best in a 7-3 Twins win to begin the twin bill at Busch Stadium.

• Box score

"That's one of the things I put in my mind, saying it's September, it's the last month. It's time to turn the page, forget what I've been doing in the past, just stay focused on what I have this month," Berríos said. "Obviously, every outing I'm going to have out there, I'm going to help the team, and like I say, we have a great group.

"Some are [still] on the IL, but the group we have right now, they play well, they play like a team. That's why we are playing well the last 10 games. We need to compete together and we're going to have great results at the end of the year."

It was just one of those outings for Berríos where everything was working. He spotted his two-seamer with heavy run. His signature curveball had sharp bite. Berríos' changeup was even better, as he spotted it to both corners.

"I knew during his pregame bullpen [session] that all his pitches were sharp," catcher Willians Astudillo said. "Then we went out there in the first inning, and you saw what he was capable of and what he did today."

Berríos couldn't pinpoint that command as he struggled with walks for much of the early season, but he found a feel for his stuff over his previous three starts, escalating into Tuesday, when he baffled St. Louis hitters for eight strikeouts -- six swinging, two looking -- as he scattered four hits and two walks through the first five innings before he ran into trouble in the sixth.

That early mastery was evident in Berríos' second trip through the lineup, when he struck out six of the nine batters he faced. Tommy Edman fell to a changeup. Paul Goldschmidt swung through a strike-three sinker, and Brad Miller and Paul DeJong both toppled to curveballs as Berríos whiffed the Nos. 2-5 hitters in order. Later on, Harrison Bader whiffed on a curveball before Lane Thomas watched helplessly as another spinner grazed the bottom of the zone.

"When you've got an inning like that, obviously, you had great stuff today," Berríos said. "We executed great pitches, and they're just swinging. When they miss that pitch, that tells you that you're doing great work. I felt pretty good today."

Berríos didn't fare as well the third time through, when he couldn't finish off Kolten Wong or Edman with two strikes, and the latter reached for a two-run homer on a pitch out of the zone. Goldschmidt's grounder up the middle ended Berríos' appearance after five-plus innings, and he came around to score, tagging Berríos for three late runs.

Donaldson's big swing gave Berríos most of the help he needed to help the performance stand.

After hitting a sharp single in his first-inning plate appearance against right-hander Carlos Martínez, the Bringer of Rain got the barrel to a slider in the third inning and smacked it into the left-field bullpen for a three-run blast, his third of the season. Donaldson is now slugging .750 since his return from the injured list, including two homers, a double and five walks.

Nelson Cruz also added a solo homer in the fifth, his 14th of the season, moving him within one of the Major League lead, and Sanó tacked on a two-run blast in the seventh, his 10th of the season, to give the Twins some breathing room.

"That's part of the game, to score runs to support your pitcher and starter," Astudillo said. "That's what we did today as a team and a unit. It was a good day."